Life in the fast lane – Mehedi Hasan

Mehedi Hasan's rise from emerging talent to national superstar was stratospheric. At the 2016 ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup he starred with bat and ball, captaining Bangladesh with calm authority as they were pipped to a place in the final by eventual tournament winners West Indies.

After scoring 242 runs at 60.50 and taking 12 wickets at 17.66 with his off-spin, he was the natural choice to be named Player of the Tournament and touted to have a big future in the game. However, no one could have foreseen the instant impact he was going to have at senior level.

Six months later the 18-year-old was selected to make his Test debut against England at Chittagong and, after being thrown the new ball, took 6-80 to become the second-youngest Bangladeshi to claim a five-wicket haul. The visitors went on to claim a dramatic 22-run victory, but the teenage spin wizard was just getting started.

In the second and final match of the series at Dhaka, Mehedi was at times unplayable, taking match figures of 12/159 to bowl Bangladesh to their first ever Test win over England, sparking scenes of jubilation across the country.

So impressed was the Bangladesh prime minister that he ordered the deputy commissioner of his hometown Khulna to build a house for Mehedi.

The youngster has continued to impress at senior level, scoring his first Test half-century against India last February.

Can anyone at the 2018 ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup replicate Mehedi Hasan's stunning rise to stardom?

The ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand gets underway on Saturday 13 January.